Kindle Fire HD

1Kindle Fire HD : Front

The 7-inch IPS LCD is only 1,280-by-800—a fairly standard resolution for a small-screen tablet—but it's non-reflective, with great color balance, and a terrific viewing angle. It's better than the Nexus 7's same-spec display. You'll be able to watch this for hours.

2Kindle Fire HD : Vertical

The Kindle Fire HD runs Amazon's custom operating system over a base layer of Android 4.0. Call it "Amdroid." While Amdroid is compatible with most third-party Android apps, the user interface is totally unrecognizable from stock Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). The focus is on letting you easily play with the stuff you download from Amazon.

4Kindle Fire HD : Back

The corners are more rounded, and the back is softly tapered with a grippy feel. It's constructed mostly of a matte plastic material, with a shiny black strip along the back housing two powerful, dual-driver, room-filling stereo speakers.

6Kindle Fire HD : Profile

7Kindle Fire HD : Power Cord

Fortunately, the KFHD has pretty long battery life, with a solid 7 hours of video playback with the screen pumped up to maximum brightness. The Nexus 7, though, scored more than 10.5 hours on the same test.